More dogs from Walter M. Crowe Animal Shelter sent north to new homes

From left, Lynelle Steele, Meredith Bransford and Jessica Caughman -- workers at the Walter M. Crowe Animal Shelter -- feature six puppies for adoption at the local shelter in Camden. Sharon Jones, director of the shelter, has recently worked with local residents to send large groups of dogs to shelter in New England and Wisconsin.

The Walter M. Crowe Animal Shelter in Camden is at it again -- finding abandoned dogs a warm home several states away.

This time it’s Milwaukee, Wis.

It was early afternoon two Thursdays ago when a truck backed onto the shelter’s property on Fair Street. It’s purpose: to make a 15-hour drive to Wisconsin and deliver 30 or so dogs to shelters there. Included in the batch were puppies and adult dogs alike, as they rolled in hay with food and water to their side, ready to find a new family.

The trip is part of an ongoing effort by the shelter to get dogs from the overpopulated local shelter to homes in the north, where many shelters have plenty of room, said Sharon Jones, director of Walter M. Crowe.

“If we get these good dogs out in good homes, then that frees us up to do more work we need to do,” said Jones.

Ron Danta, who has long partnered with the shelter for projects, organized the transport with a friend who sits on the board of the shelter in Wisconsin.

“The transport went very well, no problems,” said Danta this week. “We were able to get 25 dogs out of the county and into a new home ... many of them have already been adopted.”

Danta’s colleague, who ships his horses, drove the truck. Danta hopes for more trips in the future.

In 2009, the Humane Society of the United States estimated that 4 million cats and dogs -- about one every eight seconds -- are euthanized in U.S. shelters each year.

The trip to Wisconsin follows up several trips to New England, where shelters there are under-utilized. Patsy Topping, who splits time between Long Island and Rembert, organizes those ongoing trips. Sue Sensor of Camden has helped with funding for both trips.

“We always need people or families willing to foster. We have a great community here that’s done a lot for the shelter, and we hope it continues,” Jones said.

She blames the lack of spay and neuter education and lack of state laws for the problem of stray animals. She estimates more than 2,000 dogs are euthanized each year at the Camden shelter alone.

The shelter is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information and pictures of available pets, can be found at www.waltermcroweanimalshelter.org.